Dip or Swipe; What is EMV?

Simply put, EMV chip cards offer much more protection for card transactions. Those magnetic strip cards we’ve all used for as long as we can remember are set up with your general information encoded on the strip. Until the chip came into play, that information could be stolen, duplicated and used over and over again until the card was shut down. With Chip cards, that tiny chip embedded in the card produces a new “token” associated with each individual transaction. By doing this, it prevents someone stealing that transaction card information and reusing it again.

This added security also helps to protect the merchant as there is less risk for costly chargebacks to come through their system. As a merchant, the deadline imposed by credit card companies to put EMV in place for transaction was October 1, 2015. While many merchants may not have done this yet, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be fined for anything. What it does do is release those credit issuers from liability of transactions run through a mag strip card instead of through chip. Therefore, your chargebacks or return transactions and any fees associates with those will fall back on the merchant.It also opens the merchant up for more transactions from those people willingto take advantage once they know a retailer hasn’t upgraded their system. Thesecosts can add up quickly.

So, what are your options as a merchant? We suggest upgrading your POS and/or credit card machines to be EMV compliant. Not only does this increase your protection against losses tied to fraudulent transactions and chargebacks, it also gives consumers the confidence that theirinformation is not at risk.